Objective: To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of S. aureus isolates including the presence of methicillin resistant S. aureus strains.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Muhimbili Medical Centre, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between October 1997 and March 1998.
Patients: Two hundred and sixty patients consisting of 67 neonates, 114 children aged 18 years and below and 79 adults.
Main outcome measures: Antimicrobial susceptibility to tetracycline, erythromycin, cefuroxime, methicillin and penicillin G and presence of mec A gene.
Results: Among the S. aureus strains, 97.3%, 68.1%, 37.3% and 6.5% were sensitive to cefuroxime, erythromycin, tetracycline and penicillin G respectively. Only one (0.4%) S. aureus isolate was resistant to methicillin using both the E test and presence of mec A gene. There was no significant difference between the sensitive S. aureus isolates from the neonates, children and adults.
Conclusion: S. aureus strains are becoming more resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents, the prevalence of methicillin resistant S. aureus strains in our study population is low compared with reported studies.